Parking Lot Love Story
by Lisette de Lapin
Summary: Jim and Pam and moments in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot.
1. First Day

_**AN:** Okay, so I'm really hoping I don't abandon this. Each chapter will basically be a Jim/Pam moment that takes place in the parking lot. It won't necessarily be in order and hopefully that won't be frustrating. I'm going to stop before I panic and decide to take this down. Reviews are sunshine and puppies and Jam and other happy things._

* * *

They walk to their cars together, their arms slowly swinging, hands almost touching. He notices a setting sun, oranges and pinks playing with her hair and eyes. She looks soft in the light. He keeps sneaking glances when her head is turned.

She touches his shoulder to stop him when they get to the point where they have to walk in opposite directions. The moment is fleeting, the contact gone as fast as it had come, and the touch so light that he can't help but feel he'd imagined it.

"Hey, Jim," she looks down for a moment, before meeting his eyes with a small smile. "Um, I know it seems kind of crazy here, and well, it is. But, it gets better and I think if you wanted to, you should maybe stay. I mean, I think staying would be good."

He thinks that she looks real pretty right then, standing beside him. "I, uh yeah, I think I might. It's not really so bad here."

It is actually pretty awful, his new boss is friendly to the point of making Jim uncomfortable. And his desk mate? Well, his desk mate is possibly insane. He'd made himself a beet smoothie and downed it in one gulp, glaring at Jim as he did so. Pam is nice though. There's something about her laugh that makes him think maybe Dunder Mifflin could truly be 'really not so bad.' He likes the idea of working with her, he likes the idea of her becoming a constant in his life. Someone to always expect.

"Dwight will probably take some getting used to, but hey, Dunder Mifflin could definitely be worse."

Pam arches an eyebrow at him, as if challenging him to actually think of somewhere worse. "The three people who got the sales job before you quit within the first day, purely because of Dwight. I think he interrogated the first one, sprayed the second one with a fire extinguisher and the third one ran when he saw Dwight's throwing stars."

"Oh my god. Throwing stars?! Why? He sprayed the second guy with a _fire extinguisher_?"

She's grinning and he decides she has a really lovely smile. "Jim, he's a volunteer sheriffs's deputy. He has to always be prepared."

"Wait, so he thinks he's like 'Defender of the Office.' Aren't throwing stars kiiind of a safety hazard? We do have security, right? Oh yeah, and the beet smoothie thing, is that regular? Also, seriously, _beets_?"

She laughs, the sound travels and spreads warmth through Jim's insides. Fills him with something akin to pride.

"The smoothies are actually pretty recent. But um, get used to the beets. I think he, like, runs a farm devoted to them or something."

"I didn't even know farms solely devoted to beets existed. How does he get away with this stuff? Hasn't anyone pranked him or something? You know, taken him down a notch and whatnot."

"Nope. Jim, he has a secret weapon collection in the office. Most of us try to keep our distance."

"He's a beet farmer! He can't really be that intimidating."

Pam smiles kind of slyly, in a way that makes Jim think he'd be content to just never stop talking to her.

"I think someone once convinced him he was turning into a werewolf."

"And how did that go?"

"Um, yeah. That prank had to end when he started looking into ways to kill himself. You know, to save humanity and all."

Jim's eyebrows shoot up. "Niice."

Judging by her expression, he is very sure Pam is behind that prank. He is also very sure that he likes Pam. A lot more than he should after one day of being co-workers.

"Tell me, how does Dwight feel about jello?" One of Jim's favourite go-to pranks is encasing people's things in jello. It always gets a good reaction. A brief mental image of one of Dwight's bobble heads, distinguishable through a glaze of jello occurs to him and he smiles.

Pam grins. "How about we talk about this tomorrow. Believe it or not, this discussion will take a very long time to fully cover, and I kind of have to go."

He likes the way she says tomorrow. He likes the way she seems so sure of seeing him tomorrow. He already knows that she will be. He already knows he'll end up getting out of bed at the thought of continuing this conversation. Maybe, he'll take her out for lunch.

"Alright. Tomorrow we'll continue this. And you're going to tell me all about Dwight's lengthy history with jello."

She gives him a big smile before turning to walk away. Jim's heart skips a beat.

He really loves the way she twists towards him before she gets in her car and says "Hey, Halpert. If you can, get some lemon jello."

* * *

For the first time in a long time she feels giddy as she drives home. She likes the idea of having another sane person in the office, she likes the idea of maybe becoming friends with said person. Pranks and shared lunches in the break room. God knows she needs someone she can easily talk to in the insanity she is constantly surrounded by.

He has a nice smile, a set of straight white teeth and a twinkle in his eyes.


	2. Best Worst First Date

_AN: I forgot to mention last author's note that there will be variations in tense and point of view in these chapters. It's really more like a series of oneshots connected by the fact that they take place in parking lots and they're all about Jim and Pam. _

* * *

It's his second day at Dunder Mifflin when they first go out together. They go to Cugino's and Jim is taken aback by just how much he likes Pam. He's never felt both so nervous and comfortable with someone in his life. The way they slip straight into their own brand of easy banter, teasing, tinged with admiration and always seeming to border on flirtatious is extremely addictive. Every time she laughs he wants more to hear the sound again and _again_. More importantly, to be the one that causes it.

She's intoxicating in the best possible way. He thinks he could very easily fall in love with her. Wonders if maybe he's already beginning to.

He'd taken her out under the guise of wanting to plot against Dwight, but the conversation quickly developed into discussion about themselves. Jim found himself slowly learning more and more about her. He didn't realise till later that he'd began to take note of each snippet of information, filing it away.  
She, like Dwight, does not like jello (_"It's weird, okay. Food shouldn't wobble. Oh god, please stop looking at me like I'm insane!"_). She really, really loves lime flavoured coke (_"Yes, I realise like every person in the universe claims to hate it. But that's only because they feel like it's wrong to like it."_). On the rare occasions she decides to work out, she listens to Britney Spears (_"But you can never, _ever_ tell!"_). She'd like to go scuba diving (_"Can you imagine how amazing the colours and the fishes and just everything would be? Ugh, I'd love to draw it all."_). She's extremely close to her mom (_"Sorry, I should probably stop talking about her, this is probably boring you. Yeah, we're really close, I tell her pretty much everything. And I don't know, I just don't really know what I'd do without her."_). She's engaged (_"Oh, you play basketball? Yeah, my fiancé plays every now and then."_)

The last one had been a punch to the gut, especially considering he was already imagining future dates and wondering what his mother would think of her. He knows his face had fallen, he'd had to scramble to recover, pretend to be happy for her. He doesn't think she'd noticed how he'd leant away from her for the rest of lunch. He was on very dangerous ground.

So, yeah. Engaged, to be married. His name was Roy, he was actually applying for a position in the warehouse.

Jim had tried to look as genuinely happy for her as possible whilst devising ways in which he could run away and never have to see her again. But then she smiled and he sort of wanted to throw up because _who was he kidding?_ There was no way he could tear himself away from her. He'd never met someone as _right_.

Friends. He could do friends. This was just a crush. Crushes pass.

* * *

He tells himself that over and over again as they walk through the Dunder Mifflin parking lot together, almost bumping into each other with each step forward.

She stops him as they reach the office building. "Okay, so, I'll steal the bobble head. You get the jello ready."

Her smile is devastating, he has to let out a slow, shaky breath from between his teeth and repeat _friends, friends, friends_ in his head.

He nods and tries to quirk up the corners of his lips. She's pretty much glowing, and he thinks it's physically hurting him.

_friends, friends, friends._

He makes sure to keep his attention on her ring as he follows her into their office building.

_friends, friends, friends._

The diamond glimmers as it catches the sunlight.


	3. Monday

_AN: God, these chapters are tiny, you'd think I'd be able to upload faster. Sorry! There will probably be one or two this week and then none for the next two weeks as I'll be overseas. Alright, I'm gonna stop now. Here's some Pam. Reviews are like one billion Shrute bucks._

* * *

She blames the day of the week for why she's noticing things she's probably not supposed to. It's a Monday evening and so her brain is probably sluggish and full of Monday evening haze, or at least that's what she tells herself after she imagines running her fingers down the lines on Jim's palm.

They'd stayed slightly later than everyone else to finish preparing their latest prank on Dwight, she'd briefly wondered if it was kind of sad that she (a grown-up with a grown-up fiancé and grown-up responsibilities) was staying back at work to perfect pranks. But that thought had quickly been discarded when Jim had handed her some masking tape and she'd found herself laughing at his facial expression.

And then she'd wondered if it was kind of sad that she was having more fun in a Scranton paper company planning pranks than she'd had in a long time.

When they'd finished all the setting up that was needed in the office Pam had gone to her desk to grab her things and Jim had stood patiently, holding out her coat. She'd thanked him as she took it but something about the polite gesture (and honestly, his rolled up sleeves and bare forearms) kind of made her stomach knot. The elevator ride down had been weirdly tense and when they'd gotten to the parking lot she'd felt relief with the sudden fresh air and the distance she could now put between them. It felt something like exhaling.

And now here she is, watching Jim hiding quest notes and the last of Dwight's things in the parking lot. She can't quite stop, something about the way his brows crease as he fixes one of the notes, the way he sticks his tongue out slightly as he tries to better position one of Dwight's bobble heads. He's thorough with his pranks, works slowly and methodically, and she finds it interesting watching him be serious. She wonders if he had made the same faces as a child and affection settles inside her at the thought.

"You never ended up telling me what was so funny when I handed you the masking tape." His voice startles her, but he's still crouching by a bush with the bobble head so he doesn't notice.

"Oh, it was nothing. Did you need any help?"

"Pam, you can't just laugh at me and then not tell. I'll assume the worst, think of my self esteem. I really think you should just tell."

"Well then, I guess you and your self esteem will just have to deal. Sorry, Halpert."

"You're killing me, I hope you realise that." His dramatic tone makes her laugh softly, she can see her breath turning into faint clouds in the cold air.

"It was really nothing. You just have a very expressive face, I guess. It's amusing." Her ears feel hot as she says it. Is she noticing more than she should be? Is he noticing that she's noticing? She feels shy, kind of like high school shy, and she ends up looking at the floor instead of him.

He's laughing now, and she feels even more embarrassed. "Faces are meant for expressing, aren't they? Well, I guess it's nice you can find amusement in mine."

His laugh is affecting her and she's picturing his teeth when he smiles and it's making her flustered so she shoves him a little and he turns towards her with his palms up in mock surrender.

"Hey, hey, no need to get violent. God Beesly, you're a safety hazard."

"Suck it up. Now seriously, did you need any help?"

He looks around before answering her. "I think we're good. Just help me up and then we can leave."

She reaches out to him and when he takes her hand and allows himself to be hauled up, she is set on not noticing how frazzled her nerves are. He lets go of her a little too fast and she doesn't know if she's hurt or relieved. She tells herself it's the latter.

After congratulating each other on a job well done, they finally part ways. She almost runs to her car, eager to be in the familiarity of her own space. Thoughts of Jim evade her until she begins to drive home. She thinks of his palms and his forearms and his kind smile. She blames Monday evening haze when she admits to herself he's an attractive guy.


End file.
